Insurance rate hearing rescheduled

By Jannette Pippin - Jannette.Pippin@JDNews.com

Published: Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at 08:53 AM.

The hearing is open to the public; however, there will be no opportunity for members of the public to speak. Experts from the N.C. Rate Bureau, on behalf of the insurance companies, and experts from the Department of Insurance, representing the interests of the public, will present their cases for or against rate changes.

Goodwin will serve as the hearing officer and determine what, if any, rate adjustments are warranted.

A public comment period on the rate filing was held in January, at which time the Department of Insurance received more than 10,000 comments by mail or email. A public comment session was held Jan. 24 for those wishing to speak in person.

The filing is available for public review on NCDOI’s website. To view the entire filing, go to pserff.ncdoi.net/pc.html and enter the Serff Tracking Number NCRI-129361028.

Homeowners will have to wait a little longer to find out if additional insurance rate increases will be on the way.

N.C. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin announced Tuesday that the rate hearing on a request that could mean an increase in homeowners insurance for many in Eastern North Carolina has been rescheduled.

The hearing, originally set for Aug. 6, is now set to be held at 9 a.m. Oct. 20 in Raleigh.

According to the news release, the hearing has been postponed to give N.C. Department of Insurance experts more time to prepare testimony after significant revisions were made to the original rate filing from the N.C. Rate Bureau.

Area organizations that have been fighting insurance rate increases continue to oppose any increases.

“We haven’t had an opportunity to review the N.C. Rate Bureau revisions. However, as we said in the public hearing in January, we strongly feel that any proposed increase for eastern North Carolina is excessive and unfairly discriminatory,” said Tyler Newman, the senior governmental affairs director for the Business Alliance for a Sound Economy, which works with the Jacksonville Board of Realtors and other groups in southeastern counties.

BASE officials note that coastal homeowners have faced increases in every rate cycle since 1992, most recently in 2009 and 2012.

The insurance companies, represented by the North Carolina Rate Bureau, in January requested an overall statewide average increase of 25.3 percent for homeowners insurance rates, varying by geographic territory. Goodwin ordered that a hearing be held in the matter, saying the proposed rates appeared to the Department of Insurance to be excessive and unfairly discriminatory.

Insurance for homes in beach communities in Onslow and Carteret counties, including those on the mainland, would go up by a proposed 35 percent. The rate for most Jacksonville and Richlands residences would decrease by 2.7 percent under the proposal.

The latest request came six months after previous approved increases took effect on July 1, 2013.

NC-20, an advocacy group for the 20 coastal counties in the state, has also fought the recent insurance rate increases.

Tom Thompson, board member and former chairman, said current rates aren’t justified and they will continue to oppose any increase.

“The (proposed) rate increase is not based on actuarial data; it’s based on computer models that have been inflated. We’re opposed to any increase,” he said.

The Oct. 20 hearing will be held in the Jim Long Hearing Room on the third floor of the Dobbs Building at 430 N. Salisbury St. in Raleigh.

The hearing is open to the public; however, there will be no opportunity for members of the public to speak. Experts from the N.C. Rate Bureau, on behalf of the insurance companies, and experts from the Department of Insurance, representing the interests of the public, will present their cases for or against rate changes.

Goodwin will serve as the hearing officer and determine what, if any, rate adjustments are warranted.

A public comment period on the rate filing was held in January, at which time the Department of Insurance received more than 10,000 comments by mail or email. A public comment session was held Jan. 24 for those wishing to speak in person.

The filing is available for public review on NCDOI’s website. To view the entire filing, go to pserff.ncdoi.net/pc.html and enter the Serff Tracking Number NCRI-129361028.